How trust influences transactions in e-sourcing of logistics services: a conceptual framework

In business to business transactions, logistics services are often procured by means of electronic sourcing mechanisms, e.g. e-negotiation or e-reverse auction. The use of these mechanisms enables companies to reduce costs while conduct the transaction on a set of service attributes, such as price, quality, flexibility, and reliability. “Soft” factors characterizing companies’ behavior may impact the buyer-supplier relationship and the outcome of the transaction. A critical factor is trust, which facilitates collaboration and affects supply chain performances. By focusing on the e-sourcing of logistics services, this paper aims at analyzing how interpersonal trust and interorganizational trust between buyer and supplier affect transactions. It proposes a conceptual framework based on the literature review, which identifies the influence of trust on operational performances (e.g. price or utility) and relational performances (e.g. satisfaction) in e-sourcing